Yeah it's peak. No duh it's peak.
I was really really looking forward to this. I feel we hadn't had a refreshing 2D Mario since NSMB in 2006. After seeing how Nintendo handled Mario Odyssey, I had complete faith in them to make a banger 2D Mario again... And I was not disappointed at all. This is, probably, my new favorite 2D Mario next to Super Mario World. Which is a STEEP pedestal.
I think the strongest thing this game has going for it is how creative it is. Every stage has a unique gimmick that always keeps you on your feet. I don't think I was annoyed with any level in this game, they were all such a treat. Some I liked more than others, but I can't think of a stage where I thought "that was a miss". It's so effortlessly batting a perfect game. The powerups really helped with that as well. The pool is a bit smaller in this game, but they're able to get so much mileage out of the few they have. And this is a small thing; but I'm so happy none of them are "flying" power-ups. No racoon or cape adjacent power-ups. Refreshing to say the least. One thing that I really missed from 2D Mario were all of the secrets that used to be in the games. Since the original NSMB, secret exits and alternate paths have been basically absent from the series. And while Mario Wonder has plenty of secrets, it still didn't have the "create your own path" sorta deal Mario World had. But I think it made up for it with the plethora of hidden exits, mostly leading to challenge levels or the special world. As well as having a decently "nonlinear" pace most of the time. Finding those secrets could be a bit aimless at times, but almost always had a tell. The level design always encourages you to figure it out yourself... or ya know have someone online tell you where it is.
The online features were not something I was super keen on. On one hand; they are really well implemented and the sense of community is super cute. One the otherhand; I think random people telling me where all the secrets are would have killed a big aspect of the game I enjoyed so much. To each their own, I'm just glad I could turn it off for sure.
Also that being said; the game is pretty easy. I may not be the best judge because i'm awesome mario gamer kid. But I just never felt too challenged. Even up until the very end. It was comfortable and pretty breezy. I felt sometimes the gimmicks were just getting started as you reached the flagpole in a stage. Never felt I was "mastering" any of these new ideas. Just getting little fun demos of them, I guess.
Overall, it's a small nitpick, because the game is a ton of fun and I could put it down for 3 days straight. Maybe I was just spoiled by the insane Mario Maker levels over the years.
The badges are big reason the game can be so easy though. I like the badge mechanic, it's fun and adds a lot of flexibility to your movement options. But they do NOT feel balanced around most of the challenges in this game. I ended up using the poofy hat one most of the game because it was so endlessly useful. Made platforming way easier, and you could easily just scale walls combining it with your wall-jump. Felt a little busted, but the game encourages you to use them so hard. Not sure how I ultimately feel about the addition.
Without spoiling it; the reward for completing everything was also very lame. The reward for completing the main game and getting all of the wonder seeds was cool, but it is NOT worth grinding out the purple coins for the standees.
This game's style and charm is definitely going to be its claim to fame. And for good reason, it looks amazing. The expression on the character and world design is some of the best I've ever seen from this IP. Taking Mario and squad to new kingdoms always leads to such creative ideas. The artists are able to be so much more free to play with color-theory, enemy design, etc. You can really tell the artists in general had a blast with this game. Such a sense of creative freedom all the way through. I particularly really liked the UI. Every icon, text prompt and menu felt really snappy, slick and had a lot of personality. Not super gaudy, just a really good balance of new and old design principles. Probably the best i've seen in a Mario game? Probably. To nitpick again; I feel Bowser and Jr. could have used some extra style. They felt weirdly "on model" compared to the others.
So all the nitpicking aside, this game is excellent and I cannot stress enough how good it felt to play a Mario experience like this again. I didn't realize how starved I was until the plate was put in front of me.
I was really really looking forward to this. I feel we hadn't had a refreshing 2D Mario since NSMB in 2006. After seeing how Nintendo handled Mario Odyssey, I had complete faith in them to make a banger 2D Mario again... And I was not disappointed at all. This is, probably, my new favorite 2D Mario next to Super Mario World. Which is a STEEP pedestal.
I think the strongest thing this game has going for it is how creative it is. Every stage has a unique gimmick that always keeps you on your feet. I don't think I was annoyed with any level in this game, they were all such a treat. Some I liked more than others, but I can't think of a stage where I thought "that was a miss". It's so effortlessly batting a perfect game. The powerups really helped with that as well. The pool is a bit smaller in this game, but they're able to get so much mileage out of the few they have. And this is a small thing; but I'm so happy none of them are "flying" power-ups. No racoon or cape adjacent power-ups. Refreshing to say the least. One thing that I really missed from 2D Mario were all of the secrets that used to be in the games. Since the original NSMB, secret exits and alternate paths have been basically absent from the series. And while Mario Wonder has plenty of secrets, it still didn't have the "create your own path" sorta deal Mario World had. But I think it made up for it with the plethora of hidden exits, mostly leading to challenge levels or the special world. As well as having a decently "nonlinear" pace most of the time. Finding those secrets could be a bit aimless at times, but almost always had a tell. The level design always encourages you to figure it out yourself... or ya know have someone online tell you where it is.
The online features were not something I was super keen on. On one hand; they are really well implemented and the sense of community is super cute. One the otherhand; I think random people telling me where all the secrets are would have killed a big aspect of the game I enjoyed so much. To each their own, I'm just glad I could turn it off for sure.
Also that being said; the game is pretty easy. I may not be the best judge because i'm awesome mario gamer kid. But I just never felt too challenged. Even up until the very end. It was comfortable and pretty breezy. I felt sometimes the gimmicks were just getting started as you reached the flagpole in a stage. Never felt I was "mastering" any of these new ideas. Just getting little fun demos of them, I guess.
Overall, it's a small nitpick, because the game is a ton of fun and I could put it down for 3 days straight. Maybe I was just spoiled by the insane Mario Maker levels over the years.
The badges are big reason the game can be so easy though. I like the badge mechanic, it's fun and adds a lot of flexibility to your movement options. But they do NOT feel balanced around most of the challenges in this game. I ended up using the poofy hat one most of the game because it was so endlessly useful. Made platforming way easier, and you could easily just scale walls combining it with your wall-jump. Felt a little busted, but the game encourages you to use them so hard. Not sure how I ultimately feel about the addition.
Without spoiling it; the reward for completing everything was also very lame. The reward for completing the main game and getting all of the wonder seeds was cool, but it is NOT worth grinding out the purple coins for the standees.
This game's style and charm is definitely going to be its claim to fame. And for good reason, it looks amazing. The expression on the character and world design is some of the best I've ever seen from this IP. Taking Mario and squad to new kingdoms always leads to such creative ideas. The artists are able to be so much more free to play with color-theory, enemy design, etc. You can really tell the artists in general had a blast with this game. Such a sense of creative freedom all the way through. I particularly really liked the UI. Every icon, text prompt and menu felt really snappy, slick and had a lot of personality. Not super gaudy, just a really good balance of new and old design principles. Probably the best i've seen in a Mario game? Probably. To nitpick again; I feel Bowser and Jr. could have used some extra style. They felt weirdly "on model" compared to the others.
So all the nitpicking aside, this game is excellent and I cannot stress enough how good it felt to play a Mario experience like this again. I didn't realize how starved I was until the plate was put in front of me.